


Four Angelfish and One Angel

by vivaciousirish



Series: Girlsies Week 2018 [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 08:52:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14352105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivaciousirish/pseuds/vivaciousirish
Summary: Smalls refuses to let her RA find out that she's harboring a tank of angelfish and a secret crush.(I'm discovering that I'm bad at summaries.)





	Four Angelfish and One Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I had this second part already written, so I decided to post it today as well. Hope you enjoy! Also, I said on part 1, I'm open to any feedback, and you can check me out on any other social media platform that you'd like.

Smalls has a secret.

Well, she has two secrets, actually, and she’s keeping them from the same person.

Kath, her RA, can never know that Smalls is harboring both a crush on her and a very illegal tank of angelfish.

Smalls falls harder and harder every day with perpetually tired journalism major Kath, who never leaves her room without a thermos of coffee, covers her laptop in social justice stickers, and falls asleep in the plush common area chairs while reading (when she’s supposed to be patrolling the halls, but Smalls would never tell). Smalls thinks she’s flawless.

Or she would be, if she wasn’t also the rule-abiding RA who has to do room inspections.

Normally, Smalls would adore anything that allows for interaction with Kath. She’d gladly invite the other girl into her dorm room, hope she notices the assortment of knickknacks and posters that prove maybe they have more in common than Kath ever considered-but there’s one other thing that she knows Kath would notice that’s not as innocent as “save the rainforest.”

Pets are forbidden in this residence hall, but Smalls just couldn’t bring herself to leave her four angelfish at home. The tank is enormous-it covers her entire desk, forcing her out of the comfort of her dorm room whenever she has studying or homework to do. She still loves the calming sight of the little guys swimming around the bubbles in the crystal-clear water, though, almost as much as she loves the sight of Kath in that one plaid romper and double braids.

She wishes Kath wasn’t so straight-laced.

She wishes the tank wasn’t so hard to hide.

She wishes she had more than three minutes to fix this.

Her roommate, Sniper, is watching her frantically pace from across the room. "Smalls, will you calm down?”

“I can’t calm down! She’s going to be here any minute and if she sees this she’s going to hate me forever. Forever, Sniper!”

“Tell her it’s for a class project!”

“I’m a geology major,” Smalls groans, flopping onto the bed.

“It’s my project?”

“That’s worse, your major is history,” she replies, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Sniper rolls her eyes. “Yeah, okay, but do you have a better solution?”

“No! That’s why I’m freaking out!”

Kath chooses that moment to knock on the door. Smalls jumps up in a panic, running over to the fish tank and looking at Sniper with panicked eyes. Sniper looks around wildly, finally grabbing a blanket and throwing over the tank, shouting “Just one second!” to their waiting RA at the door.

“There,” she whispers to Smalls as she opens the door. “Now act casual.”

Kath stands there in high-waisted jeans with a messy bun, and Smalls melts, leaning back on the desk chair.

“Hi, girls,” she says, sounding harried. She glances around the room quickly. “Looks great. I just need to check under that blanket, okay? It could be a fire hazard if there’s a lamp or anything on your desk.”

“Oh, no, there’s no lamp-”

“I still have to check. Sorry for the inconvenience, Sniper, I’d just hate for there to be a fire on my…”

Kath trails off, blanket in her hand. She raises one eyebrow. “Well.”

Smalls can’t look her in the eye.

Kath carefully places the blanket back over the tank and steps out into the hall. Smalls follows, expecting a reprimand, anticipating the worst. But all Kath says is, “Well, it’s not a fire hazard.”

In disbelief, Smalls stands frozen in the corridor and watches Kath walk back into her own dorm room. Sniper is laughing in the background at her lovestruck roommate, but Smalls couldn’t care less.

Because as Kath’s door closes, Smalls catches a glimpse of a small angelfish statue on her desk.


End file.
